Six Billion Secrets
by Falconflight
Summary: For a challenge. Twenty two secrets that the next-gen characters have.
1. A Fish in a Bowl

_**For whispered touch's Six Billion Secrets Challenge**_

_**Secret: **__**Today, I realized that the people that smile and laugh the most are the ones who are suffering the most. Because laughter isn't only the best medicine, it's also the best disguise. I should know, of all people.**_

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**Victoire's POV**

I wish they'd stop staring. It doesn't matter how I feel; they stare at me like I'm an alien. I can be completely depressed, and no one rushes forward to help me. They just stare at me like I'm an exhibit at a zoo.

So I laugh and smile and pretend I enjoy the attention. I don't. I just want to blend into the walls, like Dom. She can cry in peace. If I'm sad and I want to talk to my friends about it, I have people staring at me and gawking, and I can never burst into tears in front of them.

So I laugh and smile and greet them like my dearest fans. They smile too and think I enjoy the attention, and then they turn away and leave. You'd think they would have stopped, but every week, not always the same person, but someone gawks and stares. Someone points a finger and their eye widen. I can be on the verge of tears, but I have to smile and laugh. Not for my sake, but for theirs.

They make me feel like a fish in a bowl. They push their faces up close to the glass, and they ogle and gawk and point. I swim around desperately, trying to escape their glares so I can cry and be sad or angry or whatever emotion I'm feeling at the time. But there's no where to hide in a fish bowl. So I show off and pretend to be their little toy. I smile and laugh, but inside, my heart is breaking. I can't cry; I can only smile and laugh.

Today, I realized that the people that smile and laugh the most are the ones who are suffering the most. Because laughter isn't only the best medicine, it's also the best disguise. I should know, of all people.


	2. Not an Official Break Up

**_Secret: _**_**Do you know how bad it hurts when I walk past you in the hallways and you act like I'm nothing? How I told you how I felt and you just blew it off? It hurts badly. No one understands why it does, but I do. And I know you do too. Was it so hard for you just to say, "I don't love you"?**_

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**Linda's POV**

I should have known. Louis is a heartbreaker. Everybody knows it; he never stays with a girl for more than a week. But he stayed with me for a month. I thought that maybe we were different. I confessed how I felt. He broke my heart.

He turned away and didn't reply. He left me at the Broomsticks. He just turned away and left. It wasn't an official break up; he just left me. He blew off my feelings; he didn't even tell me if he felt the same way.

I tried to convince myself that he did. I tried to tell myself that Louis was just embarrassed to admit that he felt the same way. In two weeks, though, he was dating another girl. He left me feeling empty.

My friends told me I would have felt the same way if he had broken up with me. But now, it feels more like he's cheating on me. After all, we never officially broke up. And to this day, I still hold on to the stupid obsession that we're still going out. He never officially broke up with me. He just left. He never told me how he felt. He never even looked my way again.

Do you know how bad it hurts when I walk past you in the hallways and you act like I'm nothing? How I told you how I felt and you just blew it off? It hurts badly. No one understands why it does, but I do. And I know you do too. Was it so hard for you just to say, "I don't love you"?


	3. The Secret Guessing Game

_**Secret: **__**You are my best friend. I haven't known you for even a year, yet I trust you more than friends I've had for years. I can tell you anything, you won't judge me. You're one of the best friends I've ever had, never leave me. Thank you so much, I wanted to remind you that I love you.**_

_**This one has actual dialouge in it.**_

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**James' POV**

We hadn't been friends for long; I barely even knew her. Then, she came up to me in the middle of winter break and told me her parents are getting divorced and that she's going to go with her mum back to Ireland. A little part of me broke. I'm not sure where; I'm not sure why. Something just broke.

After that, I made an effort to spend as much time with her as possible. We became really close, and I told her things I had never told anybody, not Roxie or Fred or Erica. We told each other secrets, usually the sad ones. But we had to guess them, and that made it easier to hear the funny things we came up with. It almost made the pain easier to bear.

We became so close; I think I might've loved her. But we remained very close friends. Then, on platform 9 ¾, right before she was about to go meet her mum, I caught her sleeve. I had to tell her. She couldn't leave with things so- unfinished.

"One more secret," I begged.

Marianna shot me a sharp glare. "I don't have time for guessing games, James."

"It'll be quick," I insisted.

She sighed. "I'm all ears. What?"

I was about to say I love you, but the words died on my lips. How could she leave when I either knew she didn't love me or she did? Was it really better to leave things as they were?

"I forgot," I lied.

She gave me a quizzical look, and then she was swept away by the crowd. I never saw her again. And for the most part, I never thought about her. Still, sometimes I miss our secret-guessing game; it was a bond I had with her that I never will have with Fred or Roxie. Though Marianna's been gone for a while, her memory still lives inside me; it was a friendship I could never forget.

You are my best friend. I haven't known you for even a year, yet I trust you more than friends I've had for years. I can tell you anything, you won't judge me. You're one of the best friends I've ever had, never leave me. Thank you so much, I wanted to remind you that I love you.


	4. Something Still Broke

_**Secret: You broke my heart. I want to hate you. But just hearing your voice, I can't stop smiling.**_

_**You=Scorpius Malfoy**_

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****Something Still Broke**

**Chloe's POV**

I know a lot of things. I knew you liked Rose. I knew she didn't like you back. I knew Roxanne had a crush on you. I just never knew that you two were going to start going out. I never expected you to date her, because I always thought that after your huge fight with Rose that you'd turn to your own house and try to make your father proud. I thought that you'd give up on trying to get Weasley and search for someone in your own house to be with. I thought you'd start dating me.

I hadn't been surprised when you started dating Roxanne, just betrayed. I don't know why. I could see it in your eyes and in hers that it wasn't going to be another Rose. You meant to stay with her. You never once liked me more than a friend, but something still broke when you started dating her.

I wanted to hate you. Why? I'm not to sure. Why did my heart break when you started dating Roxanne? I have no idea; I probably never will. I wanted to hate you, all the same. But how could I? Was it really your fault? Did you cheat on me? Were you ever even going out with me? No.

That made it harder to hate you, and part of my still wanted it to be another Rose-relationship. Part of me still loved you, and so when I heard your voice, when you asked me what was wrong, it all melted away. I couldn't hate you. I lied and said I was okay, and we continued being friends. Part of me still tries to ignore you, but I hear your voice, and the anger melts away.

You broke my heart. I want to hate you. But just hearing your voice, I can't stop smiling.


End file.
